Zeng Guofan

Zeng Guofan (26 November 1811-12 March 1872) was a general of the Qing dynasty who fought in the suppression of the Taiping Rebellion during the mid-19th century.

Biography
Zeng Guofan was born in Xiangxiang, Hunan, China in 1811, and he passed his civil service exam in 1838. In 1843, he became the chief literary examiner in Sichuan, and he became military examiner in 1851. That same year, he returned home for the filial mourning of his mother, and the Taiping Rebellion broke out in southern China that same year. Zeng was called upon by the prefect to form his own provincial militia to fight back against the Taiping rebels, and he raised the "Xiang Army", with which he would crush the rebellion. His forces recaptured the large city of Changsha from the Taiping rebels, and he oversaw the capture of the Taiping capital of Nanjing in 1864, bringing an end to the main phase of the war. In 1870, he failed to carry out the wishes of the imperial court, and he retired to Taiping king Hong Xiuquan's former mansion, where he died in 1872.